Inflatable assemblies for storage bins and the like



N-GEN INFLATABLE ASSEMBLIES FOR STORAGE BINS AND THE LIKE Filed May 22. 1961 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR RNEy P. LANGEN Feb. 18, 1964 INFLATABLE ASSEMBLIES FOR STORAGE BINS AND THE LIKE Filed Ma'y 22, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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h (05 0.91. SQHr-I ker- ATTOR NE I FIGJ United States Patent M 3,121,509 INFLATABLE ASSEMBLIES FOR STORAGE BINS AND THE LEKE Peter Langen, Walherherg, Germany, assignor to Franz Clouth, Cologne, Nippes, Germany Filed May 22, 1961, Ser. No. 111,799 11 Claims. (Cl. M te-1'7) The present invention relates to inflatable assemblies.

More particularly, the present invention relates to that type of inflatable assembly which is used in storage bins and the like to break up agglomerations of particulate material in the storage bin or the like so as to render the particulate material flowable.

Such inflatable assemblies conventionally include a stretchable wall which forms part of a chamber to which fluid under pressure is supplied so as to increase the volume of the chamber and bulge the stretchable wall into the particulate material so as to break up agglomerations thereof.

Conventional inflatable assemblies of this type suffer from several defects. Thus, it happens sometimes that the particulate material presses on the stretchable wall in such a way that only localized areas thereof are capable of being stretched and the stretching of such a localized area results in the bursting of the stretchable wall without bulging of the entire wall. Thus, the par ticulate material may press the stretchable well against a valve of the inflatable assembly with such a force that the fluid under pressure cannot reach the valve so as to actuate the valve, and as a result only a localized por-- tion of the stretchable wall may become stretched and will burst.

Moreover, in certain types of inflatable assemblies the stretchable wall has openings which are kept closed until the wall stretches beyond a predetermined extent, but sometimes the particulate material is agglomerated in such a way that it prevents the fluid from flowing out of these openings even after the stretchable wall is stretched beyond the predetermined extent.

Furthermore, the particulate material sometimes presses the stretchable wall against an opening of a valve assembly in such a way that this opening remains closed and does not permit fluid under pressure to actuate a diaphragm which closes off the chamber of the inflatable assembly from the outer atmosphere, and in such a case the chamber of the inflatable assembly will not increase its volume since it is incapable of being closed off from the outer atmosphere and the fluid under pressure simply flows right out of the chamber to the outer atmosphere.

Moreover, when the inflatable assembly is to be deflated, this deflation taking place automatically, the fluid under pressure flows out of the chamber of the inflatable assembly through a passage formed in the wall of the storage bin itself. Where such a passage is relatively small the fluid under pressure still has a considerable appreciable pressure while flowing through the passage of the wall of the storage bin itself, and this pressure is sometimes suflicient to close the chamber of the inflatable assembly and prevent the fluid under pressure from being released.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an inflatable assembly of the above type which will 3,121,560 Patented Feb. 18, 1954 reliably prevent localized inflation with bursting of the stretchable wall due to the manner in which the material in the storage bin or the like bears against the stretchable wall.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inflatable assembly which will r liably open to release the fluid under pressure irrespective of the nature of the material in the storage bin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an inflatable assembly of the above type which will reliably prevent closing of the passage through which fluid under pressure flows to actuate a diaphragm which closes off the chamber of the inflatable assembly from the outer atmosphere.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide for an inflatable assembly of the above type a means which will reliably prevent fluid which is escaping from the inflatable assembly from acting undesirably on the inflatable assembly to close off the same from the outer atmosphere.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a structure capable of accomplishing all of the above objects and at the same time composed of simple rugged elements which are very reliable in operation.

With the above objects in view, the invention includes in an inflatable assembly which is adapted to be used in storage bins and the like, a chamber means which is formed in part by a stretchable wall which is formed with at least one opening passing therethrough. A valve means cooperates with the chamber means to close off the same from the outer atmosphere so that when the fluid under pressure is introduced into the chamber means the stretchable wall thereof will expand while the interior volume of the chamber means increases, and the valve means has an open position placing the interior of the chamber means in communication with the outer atmosphere so as to release the fluid under pressure from the interior of the chamber means. A means is carried by the stretchable wall in the opening thereof to maintain this latter opening closed until the stretchable wall is stretched beyond a predetermined extent, and a valveoperati-ng means is connected to the stretchable wall as well as to valve means to automatically open the latter after the stretchable wall has been stretched beyond a given extent, so that in this way the opening of the stretchable wall will prevent bursting of the stretchable wall if it is stretched only at a localized area where the opening is located, and at the same time the valve means will guarantee opening of the interior of the chamber to the outer atmosphere even if the opening of the stretchable wal-l should remain closed.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FZG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional fragmentary elevation of a storage bin showing diagrammatically inflatable assemblies according to the invention mounted within the storage bin;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along line 2-2 in the direction of the arrows of FIG. 1 and showing in section an inflatable assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of an inflatable assembly according to the present invention, part of the stretchable wall of the inflatable assembly being broken away so as to more clearly illustrate the structure within the inflatable assembly of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 2, a valve structure of the inflatable assembly of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary illustration of an enlarge scale, as compared to FIG. 2, of a means which cooperates with an opening of the stretchable wall to maintain this opening closed until the stretchable wall has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent; and

FIG. 6 shows a top plan View part of a structure of the invention which limits the flow of liquid to a direction from a diaphragm of the inflatable assembly to the outer atmosphere.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown diagrammatically therein a storage bin 16 which is adapted to contain any particulate material 11. This particulate material which may take the form of any grain or the like may, due to dampness, for example, become agglomerated, and as a result the particulate material 11 will not readily flow out of the container 10. In order to prevent this undesirable result from taking place, there are provided within the storage bin or container a plurality of inflatable assemblies 12 according to the present invention. Fluid under pressure derived from a suitable compressor (not shown) is delivered to the inflatable assemblies 12 so that these assemblies bulge outwardly and as a result expand into the particulate material 11 to break up agglomerations thereof and thus promote downward flowing of the particulate material out of the container 10 in the direction of the arrow 13 shown in FIG. 1.

The details of each inflatable assembly 12 according to the present invention are shown in the remaining drawings. Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the in flatable assembly 12 is mounted on the wall 14 of the storage bin, container, or the like, and this wall is formed with an opening 15 for a purpose described below. The inflatable assembly 12 includes a rigid wall 16 and a stretchable wall 17 which in its unstretched condition is substantially coextensive with the rigid wall 16. The wall 16 may be made of a suitable metal, while the wall 17 may be made of rubber or any other desired elastomeric material.

The rigid wall or plate 16 is fluid-tightly joined to an endless member 18 which serves to maintain the wall 16 spaced from the inner surface of the wall 14, and the space 19 between the wall 16 and the wall 14 is surrounded by the endless memher 18 and maintained fluidtightly separate from the interior of the container or storage bin 19. The endless member 18 may be made of rubber or the like, and it is fluid-tightly joined to the wall 16 at the periphery thereof as by being glued thereto, for example. Before such gluing or the like bolts 20 extend through openings of the wall 16 into recesses provided in the endless member 18 and suitable nuts and washers are located in these recesses and threadedly joined to the bolts 20, as is apparent from FIG. 2. The periphery of the stretchable wall 17 is located against the periphery of the wall 16 at the side of the latter opposed from the endless member 18, and a ring 21 extends all around the periphery of the stretchable wall 17, this ring or endless element 21 being formed with openings which are aligned both with the openings or" the stretchable wall 17 and with the openings of the wall 16 through which the bolts 20 respectively extend, so that in this way the bolts 20 extend through all of the series of aligned openings. A plurality of fastening studs 22 are embedded in the wall 14, as indicated in FIG. 2, and L-shaped straps 23 are respectively formed with openings through which the studs 22 pass as indicated in FlG. 2, so that these straps 23 may be used to rigidly fix the inflatable assembly to the wall 14. For this purpose the straps 23 are respectively formed at their ends which overlie the endless ring 21 with openings through which bolts 20 also pass, as indicated in FIG. 2, and in this way the straps 23 are fixed to the inflatable assembly of the invention. The nuts which are threadedly carried by the studs 22 are pressed tightly against the straps 23 so that in this way the entire assembly is fixed to the wall 14, and the several bolts 20 are of course tightened so that the periphery of the stretchable Wall 17 is fluid-tightly joined to the periphery of the Wall 16, the endless member 21 pressing against the entire periphery of the stretchable Wall 17 to maintain it in fluidtight engagement with the periphery of the rigid wall 16. The openings of the endless member 18 which receive the nuts which are threadedly connected to the bolts 20 are of a non-circular configuration and do not provide any substantial clearance for the nuts so that they cannot turn in these openings and thus the turning of the bolts 20 will serve to tighten the ring 21 against the periphery of Wall 17 so as to press the peripheries of the walls 16 and 17 tightly against each other to guarantee fluidtightness.

A tubular fitting 24 passes through an opening of the wall 16 and is welded to the latter, and the interior of the fitting 24 is threaded so as to have threadedly connected thereto the elongated tube 25 which passes fluidtightly through the wall 14 of the storage bin and which at the exterior of the latter is connected in a well-known way with a source of fluid under pressure so that in this way fluid under pressure is delivered through the tube 25 and the fitting 24 to the interior of the chamber 26 which is formed between the Walls 16 and 17. This fluid under pressure may simply be air which is derived from a tank to which air under pressure is delivered from a conventional air compressor, and the tube 25 itself or a flexible conduit which is in communication with the tube 25 is provided with a manually operable valve which is used for placing the air compressor or its tank in communication with the tube 25 and the interior of the chamber 26 and for cutting ofl the supply of fluid under pressure, as required.

The wall 16 is formed at a substantially central portion with an opening 27 through which the fluid under pressure is adapted to flow to the outer atmosphere, when the opening 27 is opened in the manner described below, the fluid under pressure flowing through the opening 27 to the passage 15 and from the latter to the outer atmosphere. A valve means is provided for opening and closing the opening 27, and this valve means includes a flexible diaphragm 23 made of any suitable material which is impervious to air and which is flexible so as to be movable to and from a position pressing against the edge of the opening 27 of the plate 16. The diaphragm 28 is of a generally circular configuration and is located at the exterior of the chamber 26 extending across the opening 27. The diaphragm 28 is shown in transverse section in FIGS. 2 and 4, and as is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 4 the diaphragm 28 has a central portion extending into the opening 27, an intermediate annular portion spaced from the wall 16, and an outer peripheral portion 29 which extends back toward and engages at its free edge the wall 16 at the outer surface of the latter. A rigid tube 30 passes fluid-tightly through the diaphragm 28 and is joined to the latter as by being glued thereto, for example, although the tube 34) may be vulcanized to the diaphragm 28, if desired, and the tube 30 passes through a dished wall 31 to which the tube 30 is also fluid-tightly joined. The dished wall 31 has its concave surface directed toward the central portion of the diaphragm 23 and defines with the central portion of the diaphragm 28 as well as with the tube an annular enclosure 32. The inner end of the tube 30 is open so that when fluid under pressure is delivered to the interior of the chamber 26 this fluid under pressure may flow into the tube 30. The tube 3%) is formed with a plurality of bores 33 which provide communication between the interior of the tube 30 and the enclosure 32, and in this way the fluid under pressure flows from the interior of the tube 30 through the bores 33 into the enclosure 32. As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 4, the area of the diaphragm 28 which is directed toward the interior of the chamber 26 and surrounded by the edge of the opening 27 is smaller than the area of the diaphragm 28 which is located at the enclosure 32, so that as a result the fluid under pressure in the enclosure 32 acts to move the diaphragm 28 toward the interior of the chamber 26 to close the opening 27 and in this way the chamber 26 is closed and the fluid under pressure delivered to the interior of the chamber 26 will continue to stretch the wall 17 so as to increase the interior volume of the chamber 26 when fluid under pressure flows through the tube 25 and the fitting 24 to the interior of the chamber 26.

A plurality of bolts 34 pass through openings of the wall 16 and through aligned spacers 35 and then through aligned openings of the additional wall 31 and diaphragm 23, and these bolts 34 carry nuts 35 which thus serve to fix the periphery of the wall 31 fluid-tightly to the diaphragm 28 at the annular intermediate portion thereof and also the bolts 34 together with the nuts 35 serve to mount the entire valve assembly on the wall 16 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4.

A valve means is located within the tube 30 for the purpose of maintaining the enclosure 32 out of communication with the outer atmosphere so that the fluid under pressure in the enclosure 32 will maintain the diaphragm 28 against the edge of the opening 27 so as to maintain the chamber 26 closed. This latter valve means includes a ball valve member 36 which is fixed, as by welding, for example, to a member 37 which is axially movable within the tube 3% and which has a substantial clearance therein so that fluid can flow past the member 37 within the tube 30. An annular member 38 is threaded to the interior of the tube 30 at its inner end which is directed toward the chamber 26, and the annular member 38 is engaged by one end of a coil spring 39 whose opposite end presses against the member 37. The valve means further includes a plate 41 which is fixed to and extends across the interior of the tube 3% and this plate 4%) is formed with a central opening 41. As long as the ball member 36 is pressed against the opening 41 to close the latter, fluid cannot escape from the enclosure 32 to the outer atmosphere and the diaphragm 23 closes the opening 27 of the wall 16. Thus, the spring 39 as Well as the fluid under pressure within the chamber 26 urges the valve 36 to its closed position closing the opening 41 and thus maintaining the diaphragm 28 in its closed position, and the parts thus cooperate to receive the fluid under pressure in the chamber 26 and continue to stretch the stretchable wall 17.

A valve-operating means which is described below cooperates with the member 37 to displace the latter longitudinally along the tube 3% in opposition to the spring 39 when the wall 17 has been stretched beyond a given extent, and when this valve-operating means thus moves the member 37 the ball member 36 will of course move with the member 37 away from the opening 41 so that the fluid within the enclosure 32 can now flow to the outer atmosphere through the opening 41. As a result the fluid under pressure within the chamber 26 is now capable of displacing the diaphragm 28 away from the edge of the opening 27 and the fluid under pressure can now freely flow to the outer peripheral portion 29 of the diaphragm 28 and can move the outer peripheral portion 29 away from the wall 16 so that the fluid under pressure can freely escape to the outer atmosphere, this fluid under pressure flowing after moving past the outer portion 29 of the diaphragm 28 through the passage 15 of the wall 14 to the outer atmosphere. The presence of the outer peripheral portion 29 of the diaphragm 28 keeps foreign matter from having access to the valve structure as well as to the diaphragm 28 and the interior of the chamber 26 when the latter is deflated, the portion 29 of the diaphragm 28 resiliently pressing against the wall 16 as a result of the inherent resiliency of the material of the diaphragm 23.

The valve-operating means includes a plurality of stretchable endless bands 42 made of rubber, for example. These bands are uniformly distributed about the axis of the opening 27 and are symmetrically arranged with respect to the wall 17, as is apparent from FIG. 3. A rod 43 is fixed to the member 37 and extends therefrom freely through the member 33 to where the rod 43 is fixed to a plurality of rods 44 (FIG. 3), and these rods 44- extend along diagonals of a rectangular frame 45 the arms of which respectively turnably support rollers 46 by extending through axial bores of these rollers 46. Thus, in the illustrated example there are four endless stretchable bands 42 and four freely turnable rollers 46 connected by way of the rectangular frame 45 and the rods 4-3 and 44 to the member 37 which fixedly carries the ball valve member 36.

A plurality of additional rollers 47 are turnably supported by the wall 17 at its interior, and the bands 42 respectively pass around the rollers 47 as well as the rollers 46, as is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3. The wall 17 is provided at its interior with a plurality of projections 48 which are integral with the Wall 17, and substantially U-shaped clamp members 49 extend around the projections 48 in annular grooves thereof, respectively, for example, and these clamps 49 are fixed to the ends of short rods which extend respectively through axial bores of the rollers 47, so that in this way the rollers 47 are clamped to the projections 48 of the wall 17.

The above-described structure will have several advantages in its operation. Thus, when the wall 17 has stretched beyond a predetermined extent the tension of the bands 42 will be sufficient to raise the element 37 in opposition to the spring 39 and automatically open the chamber 26 in the manner described above, so that in this Way there is a limit to the expansion of the chamber 26. G-f course, when the wall 17 contracts suificiently, assuming that there is a continuous supply of fluid under pressure to the interior of the chamber 26 through the tube 25, the spring 39 as well as the pressure within the chamber 26 will again close the valve means within the interior of the tube 39, and thus the fluid under pressure will again move the diaphragm 28 to its position closing the opening 27, and the wall 17 will then stretch again while the volume of the chamber 26 again increases. It sometimes happens that the particulate material which is acted upon by the wall 17 gives way quite suddenly so that there is a sudden release of the pressure of the particulate material on the exterior of the wall 17, and as a result the wall 17 suddenly stretches to a considerable extent. In such a case if the valve-operating means includes nonstretchable elements there will be a sudden movement of the element 37 toward the element 38 and the impact of the structure will cause a considerable reduction in the life thereof and perhaps failure of the valve structure. The use of the stretchable endless bands 42 prevents such an undesirable result from occurring since such sudden increase in the stretching of the wall 17 will be taken up to a considerable extent by stretching of the bands 42 which thus protect the valve structure. Moreover, when the chamber 26 is deflated the projections 48, which serve as a highly efiicient means for connecting the rollers 47 to the wall 17, Will act as spacers to maintain the wall 17 spaced from the wall 16 in the deflated condition of the inflatable assembly of the invention, and as a result they will maintain between the walls 16 and 17 a layer of air which will act as a cushion to damp the blow of any clumps of particulate material which happen to strike against the wall 17 in the interior of the storage bin or the like. In addition, these projections 43 will serve to greatly minimize frictional rubbing of the inner surface of the wall 17 against the inner surface of the wall 16, because: of the maintenance of the layer of air between the walls 16 and 17, and in this way the life of the wall 17 is also very greatly increased.

As is apparent particularly from FIG. 3, the inflatable assembly is of a substantially rectangular configuration, although it may have any desired polygonal or even circular configuration, if desired, and at the periphery Y of the inflatable assembly, more particularly at the cor-- ners thereof the wall 17 is formed with openings 50, respectively. A means is carried by the wall 17 at each of' its openings 50 for maintaining these openings closed. until the wall 17 has been stretched beyond a given extent. This means 51 is shown most clearly in FIG. 5'- The means 51 for closing each of the openings 50 in cludes an elongated resilient substantially mushroomshaped member 52 which has a shank portion passing through the opening 56*. The wall 17 is formed with a recess 53 which receives the enlarged head 54 of the member 52, and this head 54 is formed with spaced projections 55 distributed around the head 54 and engaging the exterior surface of the wall 17 so as to provide spaces between the projections 55. The element 52 has a substantially pointed free end portion 65 which is first introduced through the opening 5i) when the element 52 is pulled through this opening 59 to the position shown in FIG. 5, and a resilient lip 57 is also pulled through theopening 59, this lip 57 extending around the shank of the element 52 and being directed toward the wall 17. Once the element 52 is pulled through the opening 58 to the position shown in FIG. 5, an annular member 58 which is also of a resilient stretchable material is moved along. the substantially pointed portion 56 toward the wall 57 and is snapped over the lip 57 to be located at the side thereof which is directed toward the wall 17, and this annular member 58 is also provided with projections 59 which are substantially identical with the projections 55. The diameter of the opening 50 before the means 51 is mounted on the wall 17 is indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 5. Thus, when the element 52 is passed through the opening 50 the wall 17 presses resiliently against the element 52 in the rest position of the Wall 17. However, as the wall 17 stretches the diameter of the opening 5% will increase, and when the diameter of the opening St? has increased sufiiciently to render the opening 50* of a diameter larger than the shank of the element 52, as indicated, for example, in dot-dash lines in PEG. 5 and as is shown at the left portion of FIG. 2, the fluid under pressure within the chamber 26 can freely flow through the spaces between the projections 59 and through the opening 50 to the spaces between the projections 55 and so into the interior of the storage bin or the like, so that the fluid uhder pressure itself may contribute to the breaking up of agglomerations.

The location of the openings 59 at the corners of the wall 17 and the mounting of the several means 51 respectively in the openings 56' to maintain these openings closed until the wall 17 has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent provides a considerable advantage. Thus, it may happen that the particulate material presses against the central portion of the wall 17 with such a pressure that when fluid under pressure is introduced into the chamber 26 the wall 17 cannot immediately move away from the central portion of the wall 16 and instead fluid under pressure flows only to a localized portion at one of the corners of the inflatable assembly to expand and stretch the wall 17 only at one corner, for example. Under normal conditions where the wall 17 would be operatively connected only with the valve means carried by the central portion of the wall 16, the localized stretching of the wall 17 would result in bursting of the wall 17 at the area where the stretching occurs. However, with the openings 5% and the several means 51 the stretching :even at localized portions will take place only until the opening 5% of the stretched portion becomes open and the fluid can then escape so that in this way bursting of the wall 17 at localized portions thereof is reliably pre vented. Furthermore, if the agglomerated condition of the particulate material is such that the fluid cannot escape even after the wall 17 stretches suiiiciently to cause the openings 5% to become open, it will be noted that the valve-operating means 42 will still be operative to move the valve member 3-6 away from the opening 41 and release the fluid from the interior of the chamber 25, so that the valve structure formed by the means 51 together with the opening 54) and the valve structure carried by the central portion of the wall 16 complement each other and guarantee that irrespective of the behavior of the material within the storage bin the inflatable assembly will operate properly.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of blocks 69 are fixed to the inner surface of the wall 16 adjacent to the opening 27 thereof and are uniformly distributed about the opening 27. These blocks 60 may be made of any suitable material such as rubber, wood, or the like, and may be fastened in any desired way to the wall 16 as by being bolted thereto, glued thereto, etc. The purpose of these blocks 60 is to maintain the wall 17 spaced particularly at its central portion from the inner open end of the tube 3t}. It may happen that the particulate material presses on the stretchable wall 17 in such a way that it places the wall 17 against the inner end of the tube 30 to close the inner end of the tube 30 with the result that when the fluid under pressure flows into the chamber 26 this fluid under pressure will not be able to flow into the tube 30 and through the bores 33 into the enclosure 32 for moving the diaphragm 23 to its closed position. The result is that the chamber 26 cannot become inflated since the fluid under pressure simply flows into the chamber 2 6 and immediately out of the latter through the opening 27 and past the edge 29 of the diaphragm 28 in the manner described above. The presence of the blocks 6%} guarantee that the central portion of the wall 17 will at all times be spaced from the inner open end of the tube 3t and is incapable of closing this part of the tube 36 so that closing of the opening 27 is guaranteed. it will be seen that because of the flexible resilient nature of the wall 17 the particulate material can press the wall 17 around the structure located at the inner open end of the tube 35 and the sleeve 38 in such a way as to prevent the fluid under pressure from reaching the sleeve 38 through which the rod 43 passes, and in such an event the diaphragm 28 would not be moved to its closed position. The blocks 60 guarantee, however, that the fluid under pressure will reliably flow to the side of the diaphragm 28 which is directed toward the interior of the enclosure 32 so as to move the diaphragm 28 to its closed position in the manner described above.

When the wall 17 has stretched to an extent sufiicient to cause the valve-operating means to automatically open the valve means in the tube 30, the enclosure 32 will be placed in communication with the outer atmosphere so that the fluid under pressure in the chamber 26 will automatically displace the diaphragm 28 away from the edge of the opening 27 and will flow to the outer atmosphere through the passage 15, as was pointed out above. However, as is particulariy apparent from PEG. 2, the size of the passage 15 with respect to the volume of fiuid under pressure which suddenly is released from the chamber 26 is such that this fluid under pressure may still have a substantial pressure while it is in the passage 15, and in this event the fluid under pressure could flow through the opening 41 into the tube 30 and through the bores 33 thereof to the enclosure 32 to move the diaphragm 28 to its closed position. In other words, because of the size of the passage it sometimes happens that there is still in the fluid which is discharging from the inflatable assembly sufficient pressure to move the diaphragm 23 to its closed position and the fluid can no longer discharge from the chamber 26 in the manner desired, even though the ball valve member 36 is raised from the opening 41. In order to prevent this undesirable result there is provided a means 62 shown in detail in FIG. 6 for limiting the flow of fluid from the chamber or enclosure 32 to the outer atmosphere. In other words, the means 62 prevents fluid from flowing from the outer atmosphere into the enclosure 32, and as a result of the means 62 fluid can only reach the enclosure 32 from the interior of the chamber 26. The dished wall 31 fixedly carries at its exterior a tubular member 63 which is welded, for exam ple, to the dished wall 31, and this tubular member 63 is coaxial with the tube 36. The tubular member 63 fixedly carries in its interior the means 62. This means 62 is in the form of an annular member 64 of rubber or the like, for example, and it is fixed in any desired way in the interior of the tube 63 adjacent to the plate which extends across and is fixed to the tube 30. For example, the outer periphery of the member 64 may be glued to the inner surface of the tube 63 with the member 64 located in the position indicated in FIG. 4. A is apparent from FIG. 6, the wall of the member 64 which extends across the annular periphery of the member 64 is formed with an arcuate slot 65 which extends almost along a complete circle so as to leave a flap 66 joined to the member 64 by the relatively small neck portion 67. This flap 66 cooperates with the opening 41 of the plate 40 in the manner of a non-return valve. The flap 66 will not prevent fluid from flowing from the enclosure 32 out through the opening 41 and past the flap 66 to the outer atmosphere, and this fluid can easily move the flap 66 away from the opening 41. However, when there is any tendency of fluid to flow in the reverse direction the fluid itself will press the flap 66 against the opening 41 so as to close this opening, and thus it is impossible for fluid to flow from the passage 15, for example, into the opening 41. Thus, with this construction it cannot happen that fluid which still has a considerable pressure in the passage 15 reaches the enclosure 32 to move the diaphragm 26 to its position closing the opening 27.

It should be noted that the endless member 18 reliably prevents any of the particulate material in the storage bin from reaching the space 19 between the wall 14 and the wall 16, so that it is impossible for any of the particulate material within the storage bin to be swept out of the latter with air which is discharging through the passage 15.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of inflatable assemblies diflering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in deflatable assemblies for storage bins and the like, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. For use in a storage bin or the like, an irflatable assembly comprising, in combination, chamber means formed in part by a wall of stretchable material which stretches and expands when the interior volume of said chamber means increases during introduction of a fluid under pressure into said chamber means, said wall being formed with at least one opening passing therethrough; means carried by said wall in said opening thereof for maintaining said opening closed until said wall has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent so that after said Wall has been thus stretched fluid in said chamber means may flow through said opening; valve means carried by said chamber means for closing off the interior of said chamber means from the outer atmosphere when said valve means is closed and for providing communica' tion between the interior of said chamber means and the outer atmosphere when said valve means is open; and valve-operating means connected to said wall and to said valve means for automatically opening said valve means when said wall has stretched beyond a given extent.

2. For use in storage bins or the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination, chamber means having a central portion and an outer peripheral portion, said chamber means being formed in part by a wall of stretchable material which stretches during an increase in the volume of the interior of said chamber means when a fluid under pressure is introduced into the same, said wall being formed with a plurality of openings distributed along and located adjacent said peripheral portion of said chamber means; means carried by said wall in each of said openings thereof for maintaining said opening closed until said Wall has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent, so that when said wall is thus stretched fluid may flow through said openings from the interior of said chamber means; valve means carried by said chamber means at said central portion thereof and having a closed position closing off the interior of said chamber means from the outer atmosphere and an open position providing communication between the interior of said chamber means and the outer atmosphere; and valve-operating means connected to said wall and said valve means for automatically moving the latter from said closed to said open position thereof when said wall has been stretched beyond a given extent.

3. For use in storage bins and the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination, chamber means of polygonal configuration having a central portion and a peripheral portion, said chamber means being formed in part by a wall of stretchable material which stretches when the interior volume of said chamber means increases during introduction of a fluid under pressure into said chamber means, said wall being formed respectively at corner portions thereof adjacent said peripheral portion of said chamber means with a plurality of openings passing through said wall; means carried by said wall in each of said openings thereof for maintaining said opening closed until said wall has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent, so that when said wall is thtrs stretched fluid may flow through said openings from the interior of said chamber means; valve means carried by said chamber means at said central portion thereof and having a closed position closing off the interior of said chamber means from the outer atmosphere and an open position providing communication between the interior of said chamber means and the outer atmosphere; and valve-operating means connected to said wall and said valve means for automatically moving the latter from said closed to said open position thereof when said wall has been stretched beyond a given extent.

4. For use in a storage bin or the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination, chamber means formed in part by a wall of stretchable material which stretches and expands when the interior volume of said chamber means increases during introduction of a fluid under pressure into said chamber means, said wall being formed with at least one opening passing therethrough;

means carried by said wall in said opening thereof for maintaining said opening closed until said wall has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent so that after said wall has been thus stretched fluid in said chamber means may flow through said opening; valve means carried by said chamber means for closing off the interior of said chamber means from the outer atmosphere when said valve means is closed and for providing communication between the interior of said chamber means and the outer atmosphere when said valve means is open; valveoperating means connected to said wall and to said valve means for automatically opening said valve means when said wall has stretched beyond a given extent, said cham ber means having a deflated condition where said wall is substantially unstretched; and spacer means carrier by said chamber means in the interior thereof adjacent to said valve means and engaging said wall when the latter is unstretched to prevent said wall from engaging said valve means when said wall is substantially unstretched.

5. For use in storage bins or the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination, a substantially rigid wall and a wall of stretchable material substantially coextensive with said rigid wall, said stretchable and rigid walls respectively having their peripheries joined to each other fluid-tightly so as to define between themselves a chamber whose volume is adapted to increase when fluid under pressure is introduced between said Walls to stretch said stretchable wall of said chamber, said rigid wall having a portion formed with an opening passing therethrough; valve means carried by said rigid wall at said opening thereof for cutting ofl communication between the interior of said chamber and the outer atmosphere when said valve means is closed and for providing communication between the interior of said chamber and the outer atmosphere when said valve means is open; and a plurality of spacer means carried by one of said walls in the interior of said chamber and located adjacent to and distributed about said opening of said rigid wall at least when said stretchable wall is substantially unstretched while said chamber is deflated so that said spacer means prevent said stretchable wall from engaging with said valve means.

6. For use in a storage bin or the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination, a substantially rigid wall and a stretchable wall substantially coextensive with said rigid wall, said walls being fluid-tightly connected to each other at their peripheries so as to define between themselves a chamber whose interior volume is adapted to increase, when fluid under pressure is introduced between said walls to expand said stretchable wall, said rigid wall being formed with an opening passing therethrough; valve means carried by said rigid wall at said opening thereof for controlling the flow of fluid through said opening of said rigid wall; a plurality of spacer members carried by said rigid wall within the interior of said chamber and adjacent to and distributed about said opening of said rigid wall to prevent said stretchable wall from engaging said valve means when the stretchable wall is substantially unstretched and when the chamber is deflated and substantially at its minimum inter-ior volume.

7. For use in storage bins and the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination, a rigid wall formed with an opening passing therethrough and a stretchable wall substantially coextensive with said rigid wall and fluid-tightly joined at its periphery to the periphery of said rigid wall, so that said walls cooperate to define a chamber whose interior volume increases during stretching of said stretchable wall while fluid under pressure is introduced into said chamber; a flexible diaphragm located at the exterior of said chamber and extending across said opening of said rigid wall for closing said opening when said diaphragm engages the edge of said opening of said rigid wall; passage means communicating with the outer atmosphere and located at the side of said diaphragm which is directed away from said chamber; valve means cooperating with said diaphragm for directing to the surface of said diaphragm which is directed away from the interior of said chamber fluid from the interior of said chamber to press said diaphragm against said edge of said opening for closing the latter with fluid under pressure derived from the interior of said chamber when said valve means is in a closed position, said valve means having an open position placing the side of said diaphragm which is directed away from the interior of said chamber in communication through said passage means with the outer atmosphere so that fluid under pressure within said chamber will then displace said diaphragm from said edge of said opening to open said chamber so as to release the fluid therein for flowing through said passage means to the outer atmosphere and thus deflate said chamber; means connected to said stretchable wall and cooperating with said valve means for moving the same from said closed to said open position thereof when said stretchable wall stretches beyond a predetermined extent; means cooperating with said valve means when the latter is in its open position for preventing the flow of fluid from said passage means at the exterior of said chamber to the side of said diaphragm which is directed away from the interior of said chamber, so that none of the fluid under pressure which flows out of said chamber through said passage means can recirculate back to said diaphragm to press the same against said edge of said opening while said valve means is in said open position thereof and a plurality of spacer means carried by one of said walls in the interior of said chamber and located adjacent to and distributed about said opening in said rigid wall at least when said stretchable wall is substantially unstretched while said chamber is deflated so that said spacer means prevent said stretchable wall from engaging with said valve means.

8. For use in a storage bin or the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination a rigid wall formed with an opening passing therethrough and a stretchable wall substantially coextensive with and fluid-tightly joined at its periphery to said rigid wall, so that said walls define between themselves a chamber whose interior volume increases during stretching of said stretchable wall when fluid under pressure is introduced between said walls; a flexible diaphragm extending across said opening of said rigid wall at the exterior of said chamber and engaging said edge of said opening to close off said chamber from the outer atmosphere; an elongated tube passing fluid-tightly through said diaphragm and extending beyond the latter, said tube communicating through said diaphragm with the interior of said chamber; an additional wall fluid-tightly surrounding said tube and extending therefrom at the side of said diaphragm which is directed away from said chamber, said additional wall having an endless portion surrounding said tube and joined fluid-tightly with said diaphragm so that said additional wall and diaphragm together with said tube define an annular enclosure to which fluid under pressure may be supplied for pressing said diaphragm against said edge of said opening of said rigid wall, said tube being formed with at least one bore providing communication between the interior of said tube and said enclosure; passage means communicating with the outer atmosphere and located at the side of said enclosure which is directed away from said chamber; valve means carried by said tube in its interior at the side of said bore opposite from said chamber for closing said tube when said valve means is in a closed position, so that in the latter position of said valve means fluid under pressure supplied to the interior of said chamber will flow into said tube and through said bore thereof into said enclosure to urge said diaphragm against said edge of said opening of said rigid wall to close off said chamber from said passage means and the outer atmosphere, said valve means having an open position placing said enclosure in 13 communication through said passage means with the outer atmosphere so that when said valve means is in its open position fluid under pressure in said chamber will displace said diaphragm from said edge of said opening of said rigid wall and will flow through said passage means out to the outer atmosphere; means cooperating with said tube for limiting the flow of fluid when said valve means is in its open position to movement in a direction from said enclosure through said passage means to the outer atmosphere and a plurality of spacer means carried 'by one of said walls in the interior of said chamber and located adjacent to and distributed about said opening in said rigid Wall at least when said stretchable wall is substantially unstretched while said chamber is deflated so that said spacer means prevent said stretchable wall from engaging with said valve means.

9. For use in a storage bin or the like, an inflatable assembly comprising, in combination a rigid Wall formed with an opening passing therethrough and a stretchable wall substantially coextensive with and fluid-tightly joined at its pheri-phery to said rigid wall, so that said walls define between themselves a chamber whose interior volume increases during stretching of said stretchable wall when fluid under pressure is introduced between said walls; a flexible diaphragm extending across said opening of said rigid wall at the exterior of said chamber and engaging said edge of said opening to close otf said chamber from the outer atmosphere; an elongated tube passing fluid-tightly through said diaphragm and extending beyond the latter, said tube communicating through said diaphragm with the interior of said chamber; an additional wall fluid-tightly surrounding said tube and extending therefrom at the side of said diaphragm which is directed away from said chamber, said additional wall having an endless portion surrounding said tube and joined fluid-tightly with said diaphragm so that said additional wall and diaphragm together with said tube define an annular enclosure to which fluid under pressure may be supplied for pressing said diaphragm against said edge of said opening of said rigid wall, said tube being formed with at least one bore providing communication between the interior of said tube and said enclosure; passage means communicating with the outer atmosphere and located at the side of said enclosure which is directed away from said chamber; valve means carried by said tube in its interior at the side of said bore opposite from said chamber for closing said tube when said valve means is in a closed position, so that in the latter position of said valve means fluid under pressure supplied to the interior of said chamber will flow into said tube and through said bore thereof into said enclosure to urge said diaphragm against said edge of said opening of said rigid wall to close off said chamber from said passage means and the outer atmosphere, said valve means having an open position placing said enclosure through said passage means in communication through said passage means with the outer atmosphere so that when said valve means is in its open position fluid under pressure in said chamber wall will displace said diaphragm from said edge of said opening of said rigid wall and will flow through said passage means out to the outer atmosphere; and means cooperating with said tube for limiting the flow of fluid when said valve means is in its open position to movement in a direction from said enclosure through said passage means to the outer atmosphere, said means for limiting the flow of fluid to a direction from said enclosure to the outer atmosphere including a plate extending across said tube and formed with an opening and a flexible member located at the side of said plate directed away from said enclosure so that said flexible member is urged away from said plate while fluid flows from said enclosure through said passage means to the outer atmosphere and toward said plate to close said opening thereof when fluid tends to flow in the reverse direction.

10. In an apparatus for storing particulate material and for breaking up agglomerations thereof so as to render the particulate material flowable, in combination, a container wall formed with an opening passing therethrough; an endless ring engaging a surface of said wall at the interior of the container and surrounding said opening of said container wall, said endless member having a fluid-tight engagement with said inner surface of said container wall; a rigid plate extending across the space surrounded by said endless member and engaging the latter at its surface which is directed away from said container wall, said rigid plate and endless member also having a fluid-tight engagement, said rigid plate being formed with an opening passing therethrough; a stretchable sheet substantially coextensive With said rigid plate at the side thereof directed away from said container wall and fluid-tightly joined at its periphery to the periphery of said plate so that said plate and sheet define between themselves a chamber whose interior volume is adapted to increase when fluid under pressure is introduced into the interior of said chamber by stretching of said sheet, said sheet being formed adjacent its periphery with a plurality of openings distributed along said periphery; means carried by said sheet at each of said openings thereof for maintaining said openings closed until said sheet has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent; valve means carried by said plate at said opening thereof for closing said opening of said plate when said valve means is in its closed position and for opening said opening of said plate when said valve means is in its open position, whereby when said opening of said plate is open fluid under pressure in said chamber will flow out through said opening of said container wall to deflate said chamber; and valve operating means connected to said sheet and said valve means for automatically moving said valve means to its open position when said sheet has been stretched beyond a given extent.

,11. In an apparatus for storing particulate material and for breaking up agglomerations thereof so as to render the particulate material flowable, in combination, a container wall formed with an opening passing therethrough; an endless ring engaging a surface of said wall at the interior of the container and surrounding said opening of said container wall, said endless member having a fluid-tight engagement with said inner surface of said container wall, a rigid plate extending across the space surrounded by said endless member and engaging the latter at its surface which is directed away from said container wall, said rigid plate and endless member also having a fluid-tight engagement, said rigid plate being formed with an opening passing therethrough; a stretchable sheet substantially coextensive with said rigid plate at the side thereof directed away from said container wall and fluid-tightly joined at its periphery to the periphery of said plate so that said plate and sheet define between themselves a chamber whose interior volume is adapted to increase when fluid under pressure is introduced into the interior of said chamber by stretching of said sheet, said sheet being formed adjacent its periphery with a plurality of openings distributed along said periphery; means carried by said sheet at each of said openings for maintaining said openings closed until said sheet has been stretched beyond a predetermined extent; valve means carried by said plate at said opening thereof for closing said opening of said plate when said valve means is in its closed position and for opening said opening of said plate when said valve means is in its open position, where by when said opening of said plate is open fluid under pressure in said chamber will flow out through said opening of said container wall to deflate said chamber; and valve operating means connected to said sheet and said valve means for automatically moving said valve means to its 'open position when said sheet has been stretched beyond a given extent, said plate being spaced from said inner surface of said container wall and said end- 1 5 less member preventing particulate material from reach- 2,912,158 ing the space between said plate and said container wall. 3,027,915

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 545,064

249,557 Truesdell Nov. 15, 1881 2,769,457 Wittenberg Nov. 6, 1956 16 Russell Nov. 10, 1959 Huffman et a1 Apr. 3, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS Belgium Feb. 29, 1956 OTHER REFERENCES German printed application, 1,043,955 Nov. 13, 1958. 

1. FOR USE IN A STORAGE BIN OR THE LIKE, AN INFLATABLE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, CHAMBER MEANS FORMED IN PART BY A WALL OF STRETCHABLE MATERIAL WHICH STRETCHES AND EXPANDS WHEN THE INTERIOR VOLUME OF SAID CHAMBER MEANS INCREASES DURING INTRODUCTION OF A FLUID UNDER PRESSURE INTO SAID CHAMBER MEANS, SAID WALL BEING FORMED WITH AT LEAST ONE OPENING PASSING THERETHROUGH; MEANS CARRIED BY SAID WALL IN SAID OPENING THEREOF FOR MAINTAINING SAID OPENING CLOSED UNTIL SAID WALL HAS BEEN STRETCHED BEYOND A PREDETERMINED EXTENT SO THAT AFTER SAID WALL HAS BEEN THUS STRETCHED FLUID IN SAID CHAMBER MEANS MAY FLOW THROUGH SAID OPENING; VALVE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID CHAMBER MEANS FOR CLOSING OFF THE INTERIOR OF SAID CHAMBER MEANS FROM THE OUTER ATMOSPHERE WHEN SAID VALVE MEANS IS CLOSED AND FOR PROVIDING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE INTERIOR OF SAID CHAMBER MEANS AND THE OUTER ATMOSPHERE WHEN SAID VALVE MEANS IS OPEN; AND VALVE-OPERATING MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID WALL AND TO SAID VALVE MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY OPENING SAID VALVE MEANS WHEN SAID WALL HAS STRETCHED BEYOND A GIVEN EXTENT. 